[Scotty/Open] Self-made Entertainment.

[Vivian Nazarova]

It was like a horse, but no horse that Vivian had ever seen. It had four legs and hooves, yes, but that was where the similarities ended. Vivian watched idly as one of the antelopes made its way through the thicket-like grasses inside the enclosure, browsing for something she couldn’t see. The animal wasn’t exactly doing much, but it was a step above all the other creatures that’d just fallen asleep. Not that she could blame them, they didn’t have much else to do with themselves.

One of the young girls near them shrieked loudly and Vivian practically jumped, but the antelope barely raised an ear. Apparently it was used to idiot children.

The plaque on the fence bore the inscription Lesser Kudu in bold letters, followed by a myriad of facts. She didn’t read the information, instead peering back into the small enclosure and trying to guess it herself. Hmm. It looked vaguely like the Bongo animal she’d seen pictures of in her wildlife book at home, so it was “Possibly African. Not a plains dweller,” probably thicket because of the grasses. Clearly a “Herbivore.” The kudu raised its head to look for its partner, displaying a pair of large, spiralled horns which its mate lacked. “Male” then, she told the boy beside her only semi confidently.

The animals were all well and good but there was only so much entertainment to be found. Vivian had been feeling incredibly guilty about dragging Scotty to watch animals sleep, so she had suggested they make educated guesses about the creatures in each display and have the other person check by reading the information. It wasn’t much of a game, but Vivian was at least entertaining herself with it. The question foremost on her mind was Scotty though. Just how much was she boring him to tears with this?

[Scotty Kovac]

Scott had ridden his bike to Vivian’s house ready for what he thought would be one of the most boring days of his life. He hadn’t been to the zoo since he was a kid and sure he’d liked it back then but now he was almost ten years older he doubted the place would hold the same lustre it once had for him. All the other things he’d done as a kid he found boring now so why would the zoo be any different? Even though he was still doubtful about it he’d told Viv it was an awesome idea and had willingly let her take him.

When he’d gotten there though he’d been pleasantly surprised. Animals from faraway lands he’d only ever seen in some form of textbook were actually here in the same city he lived. He’d been busy dragging his girlfriend all over the place to stare wide-eyed at the animals. He’d been particularly taken by the magnificent lions and had decided they would get the coveted position of Scott Kovac’s favourite animals.

When the pair of them neared the antelope-like creature Scott read was a Kudu, he yawned. Not because he was bored, no way. He was tired, his paper selling job and work on the side had been working him hard lately which meant he either gave up time with Vivian or time for sleep. He chuckled as Vivian began to rattle off her guesses about the animal. He’d enjoyed the game so far, Vivian was definitely kicking his arse at it. She knew so much about the different kinds of animals out there, he’d have to pay attention in environment class if he were to beat her if there was a next time.

“Correct, correct and correct. Why are you so good at this game huh?” Scotty chuckled, giving her an affectionate hug from behind. The boy watched the Kudus browse leisurely over Vivian’s shoulder but something in another pen caught his eye. “What’s over here?” he pointed out, practically dragging Vivian behind him as he went to investigate.

They had to be the oddest looking horses he’d ever seen. They looked just like a normal horse if you discounted the spiky mane, odd tail and the barrage of black and white. Zebra, the plaque read. Now it was his turn at the game and already he was struggling. All he could think about was why someone would paint stripes on and give such an awful haircut to a poor, unsuspecting horse. “Uhhh... African planes,” judging by the grass, “Herbivore?” He took a stab at it but couldn’t guess anymore. “I don’t know, I’m terrible at this game.”

[Vivian Nazarova]

Vivian leaned backwards against Scotty when he suddenly gripped her into a hug. She liked that. He was always so warm. She couldn’t help it; she was a sucker for the mushy stuff. She’d been a little objective to public displays of affection before now, she’d always been shy, but Scotty had managed to coax her into making it something like second nature. Besides, this corner of the zoo was emptier.

“Because I’m clever,” Vivian grinned. Ordinarily she wouldn’t be so boastful, but she knew Scotty wouldn’t read into it as arrogance. Besides, he was still in school so he had far more general knowledge than she did on everything that wasn’t animal related and they both knew it. Vivian was basically limited to picking up facts from books and the radio, which was why it was an amusing sensation to actually know more than him about something that wasn’t related to sewing.

Scotty moved them both off to the next creature, and Vivian gave the kudu – now scratching its horns on a branch – one last look before tagging along dutifully with her boyfriend. Scotty looked exited, which caused her to smile. Good, so he wasn’t as bored as she feared.

“Oh, zebras!” she exclaimed, somehow managing to pronounce it wrong as she spotted the familiar striped pattern she’d seen so many times on the cover of the library’s book on African Wildlife. “Or is it Zeebra? Zebraah? I don’t know.” The railing under Vivian’s fingers on the side of the pen felt well worn from so many hands gripping onto it over the years. Half the zebras were half asleep in the shade, but still. Zebras!

“Both right,” she informed cheerily, quickly speed-reading the information. “Oh, apparently they all have a different stripe pattern,” she relayed, looking back into the clustered herd. Odd, all the stripes looked more or less identical to her. Oh wait, yeah, there was some difference around the face and legs. “Think they’re horses?” They looked enough like horses. “Maybe you can ride them!”

[Scotty Kovac]

Now Scott was conflicted. He liked the lions but now he liked the zebras too. Maybe he could have two favourite animals? No that would never work, there was only room for one, plus the lion would eat the zebra. Yes, Scotty’s mind was a strange place. The boy smiled gleefully when Viv told him he’d actually gotten an animal right. If he hadn’t had as much self-control as he did he probably would have clapped his hands together gleefully too.

“Don’t know how it’s pronounced either, I just say Zebraah. That sounds right to me,” he shrugged, a huge grin spreading across his face as Viv spoke again. He turned away from her to look at the zebras, the same mischievous smile on his face. It could only mean one thing, Scotty was plotting something. Like Viv, he placed both his hands on the enclosure’s side rail, had a quick look around to see if anyone other than the two of them were about and then vaulted himself over the fence. The drop was a little further than he’d thought at this part of the fence but he still managed to land neatly on his feet.

“You coming? We have to see whether they really are zebras or just some horses that the zoo’s painted don’t we?” Scott called cheerily, already making his way over to the animals. They eyed him suspiciously, the herd stallion especially but didn’t run as he got closer. One foal overtaken with curiosity made its way over to the new human. Scott held his breath and tried to move his hand as slowly as possible to the colt’s coat. Without any objection the foal happily let the boy pat him as he snuffled through his clothing looking for treats.

Wide-eyed and overjoyed, Scott turned his head to Vivian. “Come on,” he mouthed, beckoning with his head. There was no way she should miss out on something like this.

[Vivian Nazarova]

That was the thing with Scotty. You never really could have any clear idea what he was thinking at any given moment. One minute Vivian had been happily leaning a little over the railing to try and get a better look at what looked like a foal, and then all of a sudden the boy next to her had vaulted the fence and landed smartly inside the exhibit. Vivian gave what could only be summarised as a muffled squeak of surprise. Oh good God! When she’d asked if they were just horses she’d hadn’t expected Scotty to actually try and find out himself.

Feeling an early fluttering of panic rise up, Vivian quickly looked around in each direction, but the place seemed empty. The last thing they needed was an angry zookeeper running at them, with like, a bat or something. She clutched the railing so hard her fingers hurt. “Scotty! Get out of there!” Vivian hissed, waving at him to come back as though terrified that speaking too loudly would attract everyone in the zoo to them. Scotty didn’t seem to be paying much attention.

Wait, was he inviting her to join him? Vivian was momentarily stunned. In what world was that a good idea? Not entirely sure how to respond to that, Vivian just stared wordlessly while he approached the animals. Ohh, the foal was cute. Curiosity started to over-ride her fear of getting in trouble. Besides, Scotty was there to make sure she didn’t get yelled at too much, right? Sometimes it was interesting to be around someone so spontaneous, sometimes it was exasperating, and sometimes, like now, it was a strange mix of both.

Vivian was a lot slower at getting into the pen. One leg first, then the other, and she lowered herself in so slowly it was like letting go of the rail too early would result in death. Acrobatics weren’t exactly a part of her daily routine. By the time her feet hit the ground it felt like a minor accomplishment. Ohh, they were going to be in so much trouble if they were caught. Her heart rate was rising and she could feel it jumping around her chest, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. Still, to admit it might be a little exciting would be admitting she’d been scared before. Or, at least she thought so anyway.

Vivian inched her way over to the foal slowly in case the presence of two people might frighten it off. Eventually she was able to start stroking its back. Eee! It was soft! “Oh hey, no paint!” Real stripes then. The colt didn’t seem to mind, instead too busy looking around at Scotty’s coat to give her much thought. Its mother, however, apparently decided her baby was getting too much attention. Vivian almost swore in surprise as he mare tossed her head up and brayed in a distinctly unhorse like manner. The foal, answering the call, quickly tore off and trotted back.

Okay, so the baby was gone, but they could still take advantage of their new close vantage point. Vivian sidled back up to Scotty, glancing quickly at the viewing corner they’d been in before to make sure no one was approaching. Coast still clear. “Okay, so they’re not horses. Africa has all the fun animals,” she mused, watching the herd stallion as he eyed them up warily. “I still think they’d be rideable. They’re about pony sized. Want to try?” she asked, grinning at Scotty. She didn’t think he might actually go and do it, that was just silly, even for Scotty. Well, sillier than breaking into a wild animals pen anyway.